The Local House Restaurant and Bar will soon move to 2236 Michigan Ave. in Arnold where the old 54th Street restaurant used to operate, owner Tim Huelskamp recently announced on Facebook.
He said The Local House, which currently is at 3946 Jeffco Boulevard, is expected to be moved into its new location by late October or early November.
“They say location is everything,” he said. “Is the five minutes I am moving down the road going to hurt me, or is everything that I am picking up going to take this to the next level? I sure hope it is going to take it to the next level. That will remain to be seen, but I have a good feeling about it.”
Huelskamp said the Local House will remain open at its current location until the building on Michigan Avenue opens.
Huelskamp said he started looking for a new location shortly after taking over the Local House restaurant because of the limited parking in the plaza that also houses an Enterprise car rental branch.
“The only spot available in Arnold that can hold me is the old 54th Street,” Huelskamp said. “I had to decide to move there or move out of Arnold, which I didn’t want to do.”
The new location on Michigan Avenue will have 100 parking spaces, he said on Facebook.
He said his lease at the Local House’s current location is up at the end of the year.
Huelskamp said he previously looked at leasing the former 54th Street location, but it was too expensive.
However, Huelskamp got a second chance to move into the building after he opened a second restaurant, the Local House Bistro, on May 1 at 16524 Manchester Road in Wildwood.
He said he worked with the DESCO group of Clayton to lease the building in Wildwood, and the company told him the landlord for the 54th Street building liked to work with local businesses.
“They said the owners thought I would be perfect for the spot,” Huelskamp said. “Luckily, we were able to strike a deal to get a lease.”
New location
Huelskamp said he does not plan to change much in the Michigan Avenue building.
“I will keep the tile floors they have in the main bar area,” he said. “Where it runs into carpet, we will rip that up and put in a nice floor with a wood-grain look to it.”
Huelskamp said he will remove the bar from the center of the room and put it along a wall.
He said that will eliminate two seats at the bar, but it will allow him to put 16 more chairs with tables in that area.
“That takes the bar area and covered patio area to about 95 seats compared to about 72,” he said.
Huelskamp said the new building will have more seating in the dining area than his current location.
He said the new building has dining room seating for 112, and his current locations seats about 60.
“I have almost doubled my seating in the dining area,” he said.
Huelskamp said the Local House’s core menu won’t change.
“I am not going to touch the Local burger, pizza, and macaroni and cheese or the chicken modiga,” Huelskamp said. “Those are the things we are known for and people come to us for.”
However, Huelskamp said he does plan to add new options about every eight months.
“We will continue to be creative,” he said. “That way when people come in and want to try something new and different, they will be able to. My menu has seven to eight things with a new tag on it now.”
One change he plans to make at the new location is opening an hour earlier on Saturdays and Sundays and offering brunch.
Huelskamp said because of the bigger space and the brunch hours at the new location, he plans to increase his current staff of 65 by about 20 percent.
“I already have people reaching out to me,” he said. “It is already starting to get good traction.”
Huelskamp said he believes the Local House will continue to thrive in its new location based on the positive response to his Facebook announcement about the impending move.
“That shows how important this place is to the community and how important they are to us,” he said.